To most people, summer is the highlight of the year. But if you’re much more of a winter lover, the warm temperatures and sunshine can get a little too much. If sitting on the beach occasionally turning over doesn’t do it for you, here are some more chilled out holiday destinations.

The Faroe Islands

Fancy hanging out with some puffins? Then head to the Faroe Islands. It’s not too hot, not too cold, pretty much the Goldilocks of summer holidays. Actually, although it’s mild the weather is pretty changeable. One minute it’ll be all sunshine and blue skies, the next it could be mist and fog. The Gulf Stream that circles the island means that even on a warm day, the air feels fresh.

Faroe Islands

Canada

The closer you are to water, the cooler you’ll be so it makes sense to head somewhere where there are plenty of lakes to choose from. Camping out by a lake will be the perfect breezy holiday location. Find yourself a nice spot to sit and get lost with a book for a week or three.

South Tyrol

A lot of people come to South Tyrol in winter because it’s excellent in ski season. But South Tyrol isn’t just a winter destination, especially not when you head up to the mountains. It’ll still be sunny, but the higher up those mountains you go, the chillier that air gets.

South Tyrol

The Amazon Rainforest

You can’t escape the warm weather in a tropical rainforest, but it will feel fresh. July to September are much drier months than the rest of the year so if you want to have a proper tropical adventure without the intense heatwave, this is the best time to do it.

Birds of Paradise in the Amazon Rainforest

Estonia

The temperatures in Estonia reach an average of 16 degrees in summer. Sometimes higher, but it never feels too hot. And despite this, there are 19 hours of daylight so it’s perfect exploring weather. Head to Tallinn for a short city break. And if the weather is really, really getting too much, you can hop on a ferry to…

Helsinki

Even in summer, average summer temperatures in Finland are around 13 degrees so it’s perfect for cooler holidays, especially if you combine it with a few days in Estonia. The ferry crossing to Tallinn in Estonia takes about two and a half hours and costs around £45 each way.

Helsinki – no bland sand here

New Zealand

British Summer Time in New Zealand is actually ski season (yep, this means they have Christmas in summer). June to August is when the powder snow is at its thickest so that’s the best time to visit if you want to hop down some hills.

Wait, can’t I just visit Antarctica? It’s super cold there.

Unfortunately it’s actually too cold to visit Antarctica between March and November. Not only would you battle the astonishingly cold temperatures of -50, you’ll be in darkness most of the day. It’s much better to wait until November when you’ll get to see lots of exciting wildlife. Have another ice cream to cool you down while you wait for winter to come round again.

Words by Sian Meades

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